Nice to be back on the road again this morning after a foggy one yesterday that saw me turn around and go home before I had even travelled one km! I commute Tuesdays and Thursdays (for various reasons) but Tuesday morning is also garbage morning and I haven't had terribly positive experiences on the bike with the way our local garbos drive, so I wasn't prepared to add fog to the mix yesterday.

Now waiting on hubby to pick me up cos (one of the reasons I don't commute on Wednesdays) I need to get home in time to get out to a dinner meeting.

Yesterday on the way home cars were just being meh. Although I had a P-plater who indicated to turn left into the side street but didn't merge correctly into the left turn/bicycle lane at the correct time so there were already cyclists in the bicycle lane/left lane and she then realised that she couldn't do the turn without endangering cyclists or hold up the through lane, so she went straight ahead and then indicated for the turn further up and actually OBEYED the copenhagen bicycle lane give way lines on the road (which at this side street go the whole way across the intersection instead of stopping 10 metres from the intersection). She got a heartfelt thanks from me as I was just behind her in the bicycle lane and had my emergency options already ticking through my head just in case she did a left hook. So to that P-plater: Thank you for knowing/obeying the road rules!

And then further down the road at Hoddle Street when the cycling lane crosses to the middle of the road (with a left hand turn lane on the left of the cycling lane) I had the usual cars disobeying the give way to the bicycle lane markings on the ground. They should take lessons from that courteous P-plater!

This morning had the GoPro working again. It seems snappier and more responsive than my previous one, which I'm very happy about.

And I almost had a bus turn out in front of me from a side street. Lucky he saw me at the last minute. Naughty me swore at him. Not nice seeing a huge bus about to pull out in front of you.

jasonc wrote:looked on the radar and there were a few spots. nothing too bad.opened the garage door to clear skies. got the good bike off the wall, pumped up the tyres and off i went.of course I got wet. did a coot-tha commute with Comedianroads were wet and we got some drizzle/rain.

I wondered why you had the good bike. After yesterday I left mine at home.

It was actually surprisingly good fun doing Cootha on the heavier commuter. Equally valid from a training perspective I reckon.

Headed up Coottha back at lunchtime today for some intervals, was approaching the back and it started to bucket down, oh well at least I have disc brakes.Forgot to put the phone in a plastic bag and forgot the booties - numbnuts.

Warm ride back yesterday, had a sudden bout of fatigue where every pedal stroke felt like it required a massive effort. Pushed through it and felt ok again after 10 minutes or so. Warm this morning, uneventful ride into the Melbourne CBD via the Darebin Creek Trail.

Shorter commute this morning as I had to drop a car off for a service. Was a lovely morning for a ride...clear skies but cool, temp was 18

Might be my last work commute for a while as well this morning due to forced company leave. Yet to decide whether to ride home or be lazy and get a lift. Think my body will enjoy the break though. Will be riding still but the riding will be about strava segments only.

gretaboy wrote:Shorter commute this morning as I had to drop a car off for a service. Was a lovely morning for a ride...clear skies but cool, temp was 18

Might be my last work commute for a while as well this morning due to forced company leave. Yet to decide whether to ride home or be lazy and get a lift. Think my body will enjoy the break though. Will be riding still but the riding will be about strava segments only.

that doesn't sound good. how long have you got off????

EDIT: riverloop commute for me with the gang. almost dry roads. there's even blue sky and we saw the sun. well it looked like the sun, I can't really remember.

TailWind wrote:Enjoy your time off, gretaboy. See you in a couple of weeks. You can rest assured in the knowledge that your lead in the Commuter Challenge is large enough...or is it? Hmmm.

hahaha....good challenge for you TW....your stats show a weekly total of 255 - 330 currently. Maybe if you pushed your weekly total up to 500-600 a week things might get close. As it is, the two weeks I have off will put some excitement back into the challenge I reckon, bring the lead down a fair bit.

Yesterday, I had a car (a contender for Moron Motorist) parked in the dedicated bicycle lane between the bollards (which I've already complained to the City of Melbourne Council about as this happens regularly). The second car on the right which is parked (correctly) in the correct parking bay is blocking this idiot in, same with the car parked in the next bay down, which made me smile. And before that there was a child coming from a parked car standing in the middle of the bicycle lane and almost turning into the male cyclist in front of me as the child goes to head onto the footpath. The parent didn't seem to tell him off for his lack of awareness, which was sad. This was too far away for the GoPro to pick up so I didn't bother uploading the footage.

(Apologies for the 'romantic blur' over the video - I had put fingerprints over the front of the housing and obviously they show up. Maybe my GoPro wants to be romanced?? )

(Car parked illegally at 17 seconds. Prior footage gives indication of correct parking. And yes, there was a cyclist in the footage going between the two parked cars. Recipe for potential disaster IMO.)

Headwind on the way home on the flat section after this hill hurt.

Heat on the way in this morning makes me sweat like crazy. Bring on winter and the runny noses I say! Plus we don't have air-conditioning at home so the nights are ick. Our poor fan gets absolutely abused.

Moron motorcyclist doing dangerous riding around the female cyclist in front of me this morning. Goes in the left hand turning lane on the left of the cycling lane then does the cut across behind the cyclist. From my POV he was very close to her back wheel. Video will be posted in the MM thread. He then proceeds to use the bicycle lane to get to the front of the queue of traffic at the Hoddle Street lights.

Another hot afternoon in Melbourne, combination of MYT and Darebin Creek Trail homebound. Encountered a lady in smart casual wear cycling along the Darebin Creek trail, thought that deserved an entry in the Cycle Chic thread. Good ride into the Melb CBD via the Darebin Creek Trail, warm morning again...

Headwind home again but at least for some strange reason we had a mini cool change which lowered the temp when I got home so I could cool down. Although it was another horribly hot night. Just one car who forgot what the give way lines on the bicycle lane mean when he's crossing the bicycle lane to enter the left hand turn lane, but my shout of a sarcastic "Hello" got him looking and obeying.

Sweating galore this morning. Most likely to do with going for a 7km jog prior to heading to work on the bike (running clothes were drenched). At the start of the commute I had a nice cool wind and I was like "Oh goody" but by the end it was "Oh sweaty". My cool wind had deserted me. And my legs hurt from the exercise during the week.

I also like passing the line of cars in peak hour too. As long as there are no issues of dooring it makes me feel great.

A bit slow today for me - my commute was preceded by a round trip to drop The Little Boy off for his first day in childcare. I thought an extra 14 kg with weights might have warmed me up, but it seems the difference between warmed up & worn out is wafer thin

Forgot to mention I saw a Rolls Royce and a Lamborghini on the way into work this morning on Collins Street. The wealthy are out and about it seems. Obviously excited to attend Moomba (the wealthy that is, not me).